NickNonsense Posted December 25, 2020 Share Posted December 25, 2020 (edited) So i headed out for a ride this afternoon, a few miles in and my Wheel is doing this (see video)https://streamable.com/et11z0 After a few minutes it stops and i just goes back to normal so i continue on, just a bit cautiosuly Good couple of miles in and I hear some crackling coming from inside the EUC, at first, I am just looking around, thinking It might just be twigs snapping under the wheel, anyway I stop at a bench and smell some burning, turned the EUC off immediately and prop it up against a stone away from me or anyone else. Still continuing to smell burning but cannot tell if it is the EUC or something else round me as its windy and I cannot physically see any smoke coming from the unit, plus there no more crackling sound. Eventually turn it on, no headlights, no LEDs, and no sound from the beeper. Leave it sit there for a few minutes in case it goes up and put my gear on to get back home. Riding real slow and cautiously for some 10+ miles back home. Back at the house, open it up and the daughterboard is burned, the voltage regulator I believe? Which is why none of the accessories were working earlier i guess. Although my front and rear LEDs now work and so does my speaker (it now beeps as normal when turned on) but my headlight does not work still, have yet to test the two speakers. There is water in the shell, but not from the ride I just returned from as it was completely dry out, the water has come from my last ride around a week ago when I got caught in a little bit of rain right at the end of my ride, mere minutes maybe and by no means a downpour. I can only assume that the water short circuited the daughterboard. How the water lasted that long in the shell and had nowhere to drain either and to just gather at the bottom, also a terrible place for the boards if you have no where for this to drain if water ever gets in. I thought these board were coated with conformal coating too. My mainboard is covered by this coating, but daughterboard is not, is it suppose to? Question, I am going have to replace this obviously, pissed that it happened when I was only caught out in some rain for a couple of minutes back last week but, how can I prevent this happening again? How can I better protect my wheel against this in the future?https://imgur.com/hZ5WnGMhttps://imgur.com/PsKPA8o https://imgur.com/rIyNBnS https://imgur.com/UqmEd2Whttps://imgur.com/Qg7a1uC Edited December 25, 2020 by NickNonsense Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SorenStarr Posted December 25, 2020 Share Posted December 25, 2020 (edited) The RS is not super waterproof... as you found out the hard way. Check out this video I'll link, this guy water tested the RS and the results turned out interesting.. Water easily enters through the trolley handle. Best way to totally avoid this in to duct tape over it and not use the trolley. Not a problem unless you take the wheel into a store or something. Water also can easily enter near the "RS" logo on the left side of the wheel, same with the two speakers on the right side. You could use silicone or maybe door weather proofing strips to block water from entering. Those three areas are the main concerns from my understanding. A combination of duct tape and clear/white silcone should do the trick. I also put some duct tape over the hole that the motor wire enters the shell through. Did this on both sides of the wheel. Its an open hole for dust to pour in and potentially water too. Edited December 25, 2020 by SorenStarr 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StealthPhoenix Posted January 2, 2021 Share Posted January 2, 2021 On 12/24/2020 at 8:05 PM, NickNonsense said: So i headed out for a ride this afternoon, a few miles in and my Wheel is doing this (see video)https://streamable.com/et11z0 After a few minutes it stops and i just goes back to normal so i continue on, just a bit cautiosuly Good couple of miles in and I hear some crackling coming from inside the EUC, at first, I am just looking around, thinking It might just be twigs snapping under the wheel, anyway I stop at a bench and smell some burning, turned the EUC off immediately and prop it up against a stone away from me or anyone else. Still continuing to smell burning but cannot tell if it is the EUC or something else round me as its windy and I cannot physically see any smoke coming from the unit, plus there no more crackling sound. Eventually turn it on, no headlights, no LEDs, and no sound from the beeper. Leave it sit there for a few minutes in case it goes up and put my gear on to get back home. Riding real slow and cautiously for some 10+ miles back home. Back at the house, open it up and the daughterboard is burned, the voltage regulator I believe? Which is why none of the accessories were working earlier i guess. Although my front and rear LEDs now work and so does my speaker (it now beeps as normal when turned on) but my headlight does not work still, have yet to test the two speakers. There is water in the shell, but not from the ride I just returned from as it was completely dry out, the water has come from my last ride around a week ago when I got caught in a little bit of rain right at the end of my ride, mere minutes maybe and by no means a downpour. I can only assume that the water short circuited the daughterboard. How the water lasted that long in the shell and had nowhere to drain either and to just gather at the bottom, also a terrible place for the boards if you have no where for this to drain if water ever gets in. I thought these board were coated with conformal coating too. My mainboard is covered by this coating, but daughterboard is not, is it suppose to? Question, I am going have to replace this obviously, pissed that it happened when I was only caught out in some rain for a couple of minutes back last week but, how can I prevent this happening again? How can I better protect my wheel against this in the future?https://imgur.com/hZ5WnGMhttps://imgur.com/PsKPA8o https://imgur.com/rIyNBnS https://imgur.com/UqmEd2Whttps://imgur.com/Qg7a1uC @NickNonsenseman thats very interesting! the fact that you smelled burning and were still able to ride home, and after some time, some of those components still worked, is invaluable info as to how great these wheels actually are. if you are a handsy person or with some electronic know-how, from the sound of it, you may be able to repair the board yourself with a capacitor and the small IC (integrated chip). of course eWheels, with their great service, will probably prove more convenient. as for waterproofing, ive rode about 230 miles on mine and never in rain. ive rode immediately after the rain though, and rode through 2-3" deep puddles (that were around 5-10 ft in length, at a rate of like 13mph). ive opened my wheel up afterwards and found no water inside actually. im led to believe from my own experience that from the underside only, the RS is decent enough for waterproofing (i would still line the inside of the side panels with a thin layer of silicone), i realize thats against your experience and from your pics, i totally agree with you haha. @SorenStarr has great advice btw, and im going to follow it myself. in addition, i think a "rain coat" for the RS, might be a good experiment to test its waterproofing further. all the tests or experience ive heard so far, have been from actual or simulated DOWNpours, where the trolly handle, the power button, the light assemblies etc, allow water to trickle in. so if we just cover the entire top with a "rain coat" up until where the tire is exposed until, might work even in ongoing rain (in addition to plugging the motor wire hole, as suggested. speakers and rs logo seem waterproof but id still touch up with silicone anyway). hope it works out for you dude. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickNonsense Posted January 3, 2021 Author Share Posted January 3, 2021 Thanks for taking the time to write this and reply. I am in talks with SpeedyFeet who is the dealer I bought from here in UK. It’s clearly water damage and warranty is not going cover that sort of damage but I’m sure going forward we'll work out something that get this wheel back working like before. All the accessories are now working apart from the headlight. So, the front and rear LEDs are fine, the rear brake like is fine, the beeper is fine, the dual speakers are fine, and the Bluetooth module seems fine (connecting to EUC World okay) Headlight is not working though. I will be looking to swap out that daughter board rather than attempt to repair, I just don't have the tools to undertake such a repair and for peace of mind would just be more comfortable with swapping in a new breakout board (if that’s the right term) I rarely use the handle on the RS so I may just pick up some good duct tape and cover the top half of the wheel, if I do need the handle then I can always tear it and replace. I do think water entered through the top and not from inside the wheel arch, although I cannot confirm this. Might be worth just sticking a plastic bag I get at the supermarket in my backpack and use that as a emergency raincoat maybe. I have loads of silicone here so once I replace the board I may just go around and run a few lines in various places such as the RS logo and speakers since I rarely open the shell anyway and, silicone is fairly easy to peel away if need too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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